In Himachal Pradesh, preparations are underway to stop the pension of former MLAs who have been disqualified due to defection. If the former MLAs are deprived of the right to pension, the previous amount will also be recovered from them. To discourage defection, the Himachal Assembly passed the Assembly Members Allowances and Pension Bill on Wednesday. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu presented this amendment bill in the Assembly on Tuesday. The bill was passed after discussion in the House on Wednesday.
After the passage of the Bill, it will now take the form of a law after the approval of the Governor. It has been provided that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no person shall be entitled to a pension under the Act if he has been declared ineligible at any time under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. If a person is deprived of the right to pension under this subsection, then the pension already received by him shall be recovered in such manner as may be prescribed.
Explaining the reasons for the amendment in the bill, it was written that it was enacted to provide allowances and pensions to the members of the Legislative Assembly. At present, there is no provision in the Act to discourage the defection of legislative members under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Therefore, for constitutional purposes, it has become necessary to make amendments to protect the mandate given by the people of the state and to preserve democratic values.
After overcoming the political crisis, the government took a tough decision, this will be the first such law in the country
After overcoming the political crisis, the government has taken a tough decision to make such a law. The Speaker of the Assembly had disqualified six Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajendra Rana, Devendra Kumar Bhutto, Chaitanya Sharma, Ravi Thakur and Indradutt Lakhanpal on the charge of changing parties after being tempted. Sudhir and Lakhanpal contested the by-election and became MLAs from BJP, but Rana, Bhutto, Chaitanya and Ravi Thakur, who are in the category of disqualified former MLAs, could not win. The Act will take the form of law only after the approval of the Governor. This will be the first such law in the country to stop the pension of disqualified MLAs.
